Chinaman's chance

Originally a reference to the socio-economic prospects of immigrant Chinese labour in the United States in the 19th century, which often involved highly dangerous work on the railroads.

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Chinaman's chance (plural Chinamen's chances)

1. (idiomatic, offensive) No chance; zero possibility.
   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 103:

     And if I weren’t here now, Driscoll and Ann wouldn’t have a Chinaman’s chance.’

   • 2005 January 29, Richard Corliss, “Anna May Wong Did It Right”, in Time:

     The Chinese, who in the mid-19th century had come to America by the tens of thousands and helped build the transcontinental railway, were on the receiving end of much prejudicial legislation. . . . In the slang wisdom of the day, sojourners from the Middle Kingdom "didn't stand a Chinaman's chance."